Klaas Pieter van der Tempel - Pause, Play — A Higher Consciousness Handbook

2015 Anecdota Press

First edition 2011 Clayber Printing

Under no circumstances should this text be read near a source of light.

Cover art and illustrations by Witte van der Tempel

Layout and cover design by Vilie Manoli

ISBN: 978-90-821098-0-1

To the squirrels and the trees in which they dance.

Foreword

i. Foreword

Wake up.

Remember what you really are,

step out of the comfort of your mind and recognize yourself

out here:

Out here is you.

Those of us who have experienced what is by now a bit of a New Age clich that we are all one consciousness and who have come back again with that overwhelming insight, may have gone on to experience the same frustration that I have. I mean the frustration of coming down from our euphoria and eventually forgetting it. We forget what we are; we forget that we are one with the moment and with everything we see, hear, smell, feel, taste, think, do, and dream. And, as a result, all the powers that go with our higher state of consciousness are lost.

This coming and going raises an important question. Why cant we be enlightened all, or most of the time?

Part of me accepts it as inevitable; that at this stage in our evolution, we can only handle being in tune with our power and responsibility some of the time. That were part-time enlightened.

But another side of me is not so easily satisfied. Its the part of me that has never been able to put aside the revelation that waking up was; the part of me that revels in feeling, and living our simultaneous identity as creation and creator. As little mind and big mind, mere ego and unified All.

This second part of me is what has written this book. The Handbook is the result of my own research, experiments, and developments in the realm of consciousness change. In it, I have built up and borrowed a range of different perspectives and techniques. Techniques that help us to focus on our consciousness of being, choosing, and creating the world with our minds.

It takes discipline and dedication to talk the talk and walk the walk. I hope that this Handbook will provide you with enough useful tricks to empower your own discipline, and to engage higher states of consciousness in your daily life.

Godspeed,

Klaas Pieter van der Tempel

2011

Why the Handbook?

This book is a guide, a practical handbook for use in our daily lives. From mindfulness to magick, it lists over fifty ways of transcending the mind or the ego and opening up to a higher state of consciousness.

Higher consciousness is any state of being in which reality becomes alive, sacred, playful, and magical. Its a dimension of being where life is a game - a waking dream - and anything is possible.

In higher states, which take us out of our ordinary state of mind, we are suddenly extremely present. Our interaction with the world around us is taken to a whole new level, a level that is overwhelming and inconceivable to a mind that hasnt been introduced to it yet. We become conscious of a so-called mystical truth: namely, we see that the world around us is us. The challenge, for most of us who have seen it, is to experience this on a daily basis.

This is the core message of higher consciousness, and it is the core of this handbook. Interact with the world knowing that you are it, and that you are your own creator. You are your own creator.

Higher consciousness is more than a belief system. It is a level of experience. Once we are at this higher level, we can take our inner world - our mind, feelings, beliefs, and our experience of life and reality - into our own hands.

The more our minds become our own, the more honest and creative our perception of reality becomes. Instead of getting in our own way and being self-destructive, we can speed up the steps of our development and become the artists of our own minds. To this end, the purpose of this book is to learn how to use higher states of consciousness an increased awareness of the so-called spiritual dimension of reality as a means to an end. Higher consciousness is a starting point for thinking for ourselves, knowing ourselves, and transforming ourselves. It is a place of healing and connection. It is where we can evolve ourselves and rediscover the true meaning of our existence. Using it allows us any and every day to ask and answer the questions that give meaning and direction to our lives: Who am I? What is the purpose of my life? Why am I doing this? Does this make me happy? What am I learning from this? And what reality am I creating for myself and for the people around me right now?

Three parts

There are three parts to this book, what I call the fictional part, the nerdy part, and the fun part. It may be good to read them from start to finish, but on the other hand, you may find some of it old news, uninteresting, or overly complicated. If this is the case you can easily skip around the text without any problems.

Part one A Day with Higher Consciousness is a description of a typical day with higher consciousness. Its a fictionalized example of how the different methods of consciousness change can be used in your daily life.

Second is the philosophical bit. It describes the two basic elements of living with higher consciousness; Mindfulness and Magick. A framework is presented within which the higher consciousness techniques can be understood, a framework which I like to think of as pause and play.

Third and last is the practical part. Its the biggest part, because it has all the tricks and experiments, mantras, tantras and prayers so that you can start your day the holy way.

Part one

A Day with Higher Consciousness

The following is a fictionalized account of what a typical day in a mind seeking higher consciousness might look like. It includes some of the techniques described later in the book to show how they might be used.

When Bob wakes up in the morning, hes fading in and out of a sleeping state where his bedroom mixes with the realm of his dreams. In this first stage of daily consciousness, he makes a quick note to himself that he is waking up. I am waking up, and now I am awake to the fact that I exist again. By waking up consciously, Bob is aware of the fact that he has become conscious.

Sound weird? If we simply take it for granted that we wake up every day to the same world that we were in yesterday, we easily forget the significance that each day has. We forget that we have put ourselves here, for whatever purpose, and that we have a new day to live out.

So now Bob is aware of being awake, and he has a sense of purpose.

Soon enough, the daily chores and responsibilities start to flood his mind. Hes interacting with his wife, Eve, being social, being human. They kiss, she goes to work. Bob eats breakfast, usually without recognizing the breakfast for what it is, because in the morning hes running on empty and he finds it hard to be on.

Once hes finished his breakfast and gotten dressed, Bob splashes his face with cold water and wakes up again. He takes a good look in the mirror. He doesnt just look at himself, he looks at his self; hes looking deep into his own eyes, communicating to himself that he is here. He smiles, albeit with a tricksters slanted smile. Go get em tiger!

Outside Bob gauges the weather. Is it too hot, too cold? He nonchalantly reminds himself that nothing is real, and that this includes the sensation of temperature. Cold is an illusion; he is the entire universe, how could he let something like the weather overcome his comfort level? So if its too cold, Bob labels the cold as an illusion and he walks around tall and upright instead of huddling and slouching over and letting the cold get to him.